Our Future
by jax2u
Summary: The O'Malley's finally plan for a divorce but, the plan doesn't go accordingly. Mark and Izzie implied too. *CHAPTER 14 for Krista! because you have been soo patient with me*
1. Divorce Decision

Part of her wanted to leave, just bail, right then and there. So she already rang the doorbell, big deal. She could still leave… but the other part of her had to ask. They had to move on with their lives and that meant taking the next step; which was officially ending their marriage. No more strings attached. She impatiently rang the doorbell again, praying anyone but _she_ would answer the door. And then…

"Callie! Hi, what are you doing here?"

Crap. It was her, Izzie.. the one person she did not want to see. "I need to see George." Callie let herself in the door forcing Izzie to move back. "Is he in his room?"

"Um, yeah." Callie nodded and started to go towards the stairs but Izzie stopped her. "Where you going? George sleeps in here now… Alex is in his hold room."

"Oh. Okay, thanks." Callie walked toward the closed office door and Izzie, being her nosy self, went into the living room across the hall; which was close enough to hear them talk but far away enough to not make it seem so obvious.

She knocked on the door, "George? It's me… I need to talk to you."

"Come on in." She heard from the other side. Callie closed the door behind her knowing well that Izzie would probably try to ease drop. He didn't even have to know that it was her walking in the room, he could smell her shampoo a mile away. One thing he realized when they were married is when you live with a person, you tend to learn their little rituals, smells, eating habits etc. Even though it wasn't the first time George had a roomate, Callie wasn't just a roomate, she was his person. And living in a hotel room, well, there isn't many places one could be alone. It was only natural to learn all the amazing things no one else knew about her. He felt special knowing those things.

When she walked in the room she was surprised to see him laying on the floor inside a sleeping bag. You would think with him living there before Meredith would at least give him a cot or something, but a sleeping bag?!

George was playing his Gameboy, which she knew meant he had a hard day because he only plays it when he's stressed out. (One of the things she learned about _him _after they started living together) "Hey… I, ah, didn't realize you didn't have your old room back. I didn't even think about it with Alex living here now."

"Yeah well, I won't be living in a sleeping bag much longer. Lexie and I are ganna be roommates, find an apartment together." George couldn't help but notice how amazing Callie looked. Even after everything that happened between them, he could not deny that every single time she walked in the room, he looked twice. And every single time he had to remind himself that he had no right to look anymore _that way_ at her anymore. But once he realized he was lookin again,he tried to save himself, "I heard you are living with Cristina now."

"Yeah, she was looking for a roommate and I needed a new place so…"

"Cool. I guess it was a good thing that we didn't buy a place of our own together. Would have been pointless."

"I know, we really don't own anything together…" At that moment, they both realized they never thought about it before. On cue, they had the same shocked expression- it was kind of sad. They were married but didn't own a house, or a car, or even a TV together.

Callie broke the silence and said, "Anyway, that's kinda the reason why I'm here." She took a deep breath, looked at George, who was still in his sleeping bag, and noticed he was closely listening to what she was saying. What the hell, she mustered up the courage to go there, might as well stay for the ride, "I was wondering if you filed for a divorce yet."

He wasn't expecting that to come out of her mouth that's for sure! He must have had a surprised look on his face because she quickly went on saying "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just when your mom came back to the hospital with baby clothes, she made me realize that we are technically still married. And I didn't file for divorce papers yet so I was wondering if you did." Damn it. Why did she feel bad? Why was she getting this sharp pain in her stomach? Why was he so damn cute, laying there on the floor? How was it that he still had this affect on her? If she wasn't there to legally end their marriage, she would so be in that sleeping bag by now with him; holding him and making whatever happened to him earlier that day go away_…__ "S__nap out of it Callie, he doesn't love you, he loves that blonde bitch across the hall who destroyed, __hell __humiliated__ you! He cheated on you, he doesn't deserve you!"_

When she came back to reality she noticed he was staring at her. George knew this conversation would have to happen someday, but he didn't know how horrible he would feel. He too could see the discomfort this was making her; all he really wanted to do was hold her, tell her it would be ok and the feeling will pass. She didn't deserve this… she was a wonderful, gorgeous, caring woman who deserves better; better than a cowardly, cheating man who failed his internship. So even though she was hot, and had the hots for him, George had no choice but to let her go. If he wanted to end their relationship the right way, he had to just let her go and move on. "Uh, no. I didn't file for a divorce. I didn't even think to. I'm surprised your dad isn't all over it. He probably think I _did_ marry you only for your money."

"What? No, he doesn't. Actually, I- uh, didn't tell my parents that we broke up." George didn't expect that to come out of her mouth either. He knew she wasn't exactly tight with her parents, but that's because they were so strict with her growing up. She had to break free and move across the country for them to realize she needed to learn life on her own. They loved her dearly, spoiled her roten as a child, and would do anything to protect her, and she knew all of this... but she also knew that she had to do something with her life. She wanted to prove to them that she could become someone, something in this world. And that she did- Callie became one of the few top orthopeadic surgeons in the country. She couldn't bare the thought of disappointing her parents by telling them her and George were already over. She would hear the never ending "I told you so mija- there was something about that George O'Malley that did not sit well with us. He is no bueno!" Yet even though he was no bueno, as much as she would like to forget it all, she still loved him.

"Oh, so that's why I'm still alive… I was wondering why your dad hadn't come here to hurt me!"

"My dad wouldn't hurt you… he seems tougher than he is. He has to put up a front like that; otherwise people would walk all over him."

"That's not what he told me."

"What are you talking about?!" Callie thought George gave a pretty good impression when her dad came to meet him. Her mom even called her the next day to say she couldn't wait to plan their wedding party and meet her groom. They trusted she picked a good, caring man who would bare their future nietos.

"He said that if I ever hurt you, he would return the favor."

"When?"

"When he came here to meet me…"

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Um, because I was scared…" They realized what they were talking about and both laughed. It seemed like some of their pain that was filling up the room was replaced with forgiveness.

"Okay, well I guess I better tell my parents. I'm sure my dad will contact our lawyer and I'll get the divorce papers going."

"Yeah, ok. Just let me know if you need help with any of it. I don't know exactly how this is supposed to work so."

"That makes two of us!"

"Right, sorry."

"Well, I should go. I'll let you get back to your game. I know you probably had a bad day and I didn't mean to make it worse by coming here about this so…"

George smiled and replied quickly, "You could never make by day worse. Only better."

She blushed a little after he said that, not enough to turn her cheeks darker, but he could tell she was blushing. That made him feel- well, better honestly. He didn't think he could ever make her smile again let alone blush. She gave him that ridiculously cute smile of hers in return and headed out of the office. He did not know why, but he felt the need to go after her. The front door creaked open; it was now or never, literally. George quickly yelled her name and tried to get up from the floor, but his foot slipped on the silky sleeping bag and he fell back onto the floor, hard. His shoulder took the fall and Callie heard a loud thud and ran back into the office.

"George! Are you ok? Can you get up?" Izzie heard him fall too and ran into the room to see what happened.

"I'm okay… but I think my shoulder popped out of it's socket." Callie knelt down and checked out his arm.

"Izzie, can you get him some ice please?" Izzie nodded and ran into the kitchen. " George hold still, let me see... Crap, it's the same shoulder too from last time you popped it out."

"From when I fell down the stairs? How'd you know?"

"I was your doctor before your wife George."

He grunted. "Right."

"Here, here is a bag of frozen peas!" Izzie held out the bag to Callie who first glared at the peas, then at Izzie, then back at the peas.

"Thanks, but I think we should take you to the hospital George. I could try to set it here but it might not work. And I know you didn't take any pain meds last time, but it will hurt even worse now."

Izzie jumped in saying "I could take him!"

"Thanks Iz, but just let Callie take me. She has to do it anyway, this way you can just stay here and not worry about me." Callie could tell that hurt Izzie, she had this dumbfounded look on her face. Honestly, what George said made Callie feel a little better! She tried to hide her smile but he saw the look on her face and could tell what was going on. Callie helped George stand up, grabbed his coat and her keys and the O'Malley's headed for Seattle Grace.


	2. Just Say Something

After wondering the halls for a few minutes, they found a vacant exam room in a quiet hallway. George sat on the exam table and Callie helped him take off his jacket and t-shirt as painless as possible. She could never forget what he looked like under that shirt. He had the simplest yet most incredible chest she ever touched; not too hairy but not waxed either, his pecks were tight enough to feel the definition but not super buff like Mark's, and his abs… that boy had nice abs. She thought she would feel kinda happy that the man who cheated on her was in physical pain, karma's a bitch after all, but she found herself worried about him. Even though she was the best orthopedic surgeon at SGH and knew that a dislocated shoulder was not that big of a deal, she knew he was still physically uncomfortable and complications could arise.

"I'm going to give you some pain meds, wait a little for them to kick in and then set the shoulder, okay?"

"Yeah, ok." She nodded, and went across the room to get the medication ready. All the while, George couldn't help but watch her. She looked so calm and collected when dealing with patients. No matter how young or old, every patient of Callie's loved her and never complained. Ortho was her thing and everyone knew it. "Thanks for helping me by the way. I feel kinda stupid for falling on the floor and popping my shoulder out, yet again. I didn't even fall that hard."

"Well, it was hard enough. It didn't help that it was the same shoulder from before too." She continued to write some things down on his chart when out of the blue George said, "I miss you."

Callie's heart skipped a beat; she was totally caught off guard. Her back was to him so he couldn't see his face, but she stopped writing and just listened.

He continued on, "I knew I missed you after we broke up but I didn't know how badly until you walked through my door tonight. I mean we would still see eachother in these halls or the OR, but I awalys saw you at work. The work never stopped, and neither did my love for you... Not only do I miss you as my wife, but I miss you as my friend even more." She could feel the tears coming on and tried chocking them back but it was no use. "Will you turn around and look at me… Callie?"

She put the chart down on the counter, slowly turned around and looked at him, sitting there half naked all hurt and vulnerable. She could feel the tears slowly streaming down her face and quickly brushed them away; didn't matter though, George saw them glisten in the fluorescent light. He knew he had to be extremely careful in his choice of words so she understood him correctly.

"Our conversations we would have for hours on end, being able to save someone's life as a team, jor ust being with you… being able to comfort you or you comfort me, I miss that. And your hair- God I miss Callie's smell! Don't tell anyone, but I bought your shampoo because I missed it so much… Now that I said that out loud, it sounded kinda stalker like but…I don't care! Because just to have any piece of you or a memorabilia of us when we were together, it helps, ease the pain. I know I damaged you and baby, I am _so sorry_; if I feel _this_ bad, I can't imagine how you feel. But I think if we try to ease each other's pain, together, it won't hurt as much." _Okay, that was __it__, that__ was all I wanted to say. Why is she staring at me… __crying sad tears.__ I didn't want her to cry! I just, had to tell her. Oh God Cal please… __say__ something. Anything! I can't take it when I make you cry. Crap. I know that look. That's not exactly the look I was hoping for…_

"Callie, what are you thinking? Will you say something, please?" Honestly, she was speechless. Her body was taking over her mind; she slowly walked towards him, which he took as a good sign. He reached his hand out for her to take, but instead she just stared at it. She didn't know what to do- the man was saying he wanted her back. What was she supposed to do?

"Cal, I'm sorry, I just-" WHACK!

Callie slapped him across the face and his head turned over his shoulder. He was completely taken back, but then again, he had it coming. "You miss **me**?! You do not have the right to miss me. You _cheated_ on **me**! You broke our marriage, you broke **my **heart. You fell in love with another woman and chose her over me... The woman I _told_ _you_ had a thing for you when we were together. I tried to respect your new relationship, give you space and not say anything. But it was everywhere... everyone was talking about it! And yet, I found myself still wishing you the best because I loved you. So no George, you don't miss me or my hair."

That wasn't exactly the response he was looking for. But it was true; okay, time for round two, "You wanna know why I didn't file for a divorce? Because there is a part of me that knows I will never find _anyone_ that comes close to you. Ever. And as long as it's down on paper, there is always that chance we will forgive each other enough to become George and Callie O'Malley again. As for Izzie.. it just, wasn't right. Any of it. I don't know why I chose her over you; maybe it was _because_ she was the other woman who loved me, and, I never had two girls fight over me. I didn't ask for it to happen then, but I think Izzie thought she loved me as much as she said she did because she was so against our relationship. She was jealous. But she does not chose who I stay with; I chose who I want. And I'm choosing you Calliope Iphigenia O'Malley."

Crap. Why did he have to be so damn good with words? Callie didn't know what to think. Here the man of her dreams was declaring his love for her, again, just when she thought there was no more hope for them. It took her a while but she finally accepted that George would no longer be a part of her life. He would no longer father her children, no longer be there to hold her hand through the good and the bad, and he would not longer be on the other side of the bed 40 years down the road. And now, now he is saying he wants her back…


	3. Oh lala

"Okay, I'm ganna just fix your shoulder and pretend like you didn't just say that because you are on drugs and do not know what you are saying!" She walked over to where he was sitting on the exam bed to get to work, but she was afraid to touch him. They haven't touched since they had sex on their last night of the 17 day vacation, when they were trying to get pregnant. If she touched him, got too close to him, she might not want to move away. If she did not move away from him, she did not quite know what might happen next.

"I _do _know what I'm saying! The drugs are just helping me a little, giving me more confidence."

"George, I should really set your shoulder now. The longer we wait the harder it will be and the higher the risk of there being complications." She got a little closer to him, knowing very well she couldn't get out of touching him.

George answered her in a whisper saying, "Well, what if I said you can't touch me until you agree to give me a second chance." She looked at his warm, carrying, yet hurtful eyes and could feel her face blushing. He took her hand (with his good arm) and pulled her in between his legs. She tried to pull away from him but even with one arm he still managed to hold her so tight that she couldn't move. He wrapped his legs around her thighs and she could feel his warm breath on her cheeks.

"What are you doing…"

He saw a sparkle in her eyes and gave her a reassuring smile. "Well, in about 10 seconds I'm going to kiss my wife. And she is going to kiss me back."

In a low, husky voice Callie said, "What makes you so sure?"

"Because I know you and you can't resist my kisses. Especially when I'm half naked." George moved in closer to her and could feel her heart pounding. He realized that she was trembling too; not a scared tremble but a nervous, unexpected tremble.

She had nowhere to go; her hands found their way to his legs and she pressed them into his upper thighs, leaning into his hot body. "George… if I kiss you back, you can't just- I mean, you have to promise me that…"

He knew what she was trying to say but knew it was too painful to actually say the words, so he cut her off. "I won't. I will proudly be your husband till the day I die." Despite her glowing skin, he couldn't help but notice how exposed and raw she looked; he took it as a good sign. It meant she was considering the inevitable. He tried to give her his most caring, warming, heartfelt smile he could.

Damn it. He was good. Instead of waiting for him to make his move, she put their fate into her own hands. Callie forcefully grabbed his wispy head of hair and kissed him. First on the top lip, moved down to the bottom, and then slowly made her way inside. George thought he would have to lead the whole time because she was acting reserved before; however, he did not have to do a thing. She knew what she wanted from him, she knew how to please him, and she knew she was never so sure about anything in her life.

As she continued to keep him busy up top, she began to unlatch his belt and zip down his pants. He put his hands above the top of her jeans, slowly caressed her back, making his way to her bra strap. She was more than ready; considering the last time she had sex _was_ with George, her body was ready, her mind was ready, and her love for him only grew. She wanted to have hot, heated sex with her husband, who she had long waited for.

He on the other hand, did not want mind blowing passionate sex. Not that he didn't want her, lord knows he did, but he did not want it to go so fast. He wanted to take his time, remember this moment and embrace her, everywhere, as long as he could. He tried to calm her down by kissing her neck, but she pushed his chest, forcing him to lay back on the bed and began to climb on top of him. As she tore off her shirt and finished what he started with her bra, George moved to make room for her, but when he used his arms to move backward on the bed, he was reminded of why exactly they were having sex in the hospital- his shoulder.

"AAHHH! Crap!"

"What? What, did I hurt you?" Callie had a concerned tone in her voice so George tried to calm her once more.

"No, no it's not you… it's my shoulder."

"Oh my God! I completely forgot! After that kiss… you distracted me so well."

"I didn't expect you to be so willing; and like you said, after that kiss… we just kept going and going and the pain went away. I'm sure the meds helped but…" While he kept rambling on and on about how much he was enjoying the last 10 minutes, she set his shoulder back in place.

"Ahh!! Damnit Cal! You could have told me you were going to do it _now_!"

"And freak you out, I don't think so!" She walked across the room (still shirtless) and got a sling. George watched the muscles of her back move as she walked away. She turned around and noticed he was closely watching and decided to do her flirty walk; hips forward, and walk in long strides which makes her breasts bounce. Of course, George couldn't keep his eyes off of her body. When she got close enough to where he could reach her, he grabbed the sling and pulled her towards him. He tilted his head to the side, locked his chin on her shoulder and kissed the side of her neck very playfully this time.

"How in the world do you still want to have sex after what I just did to your arm?!"

"Well, my doctor said to keep active so my arm wouldn't get sore."

"Uh, no she didn't." Callie tugged on the sling so he would let go of it, which he did. "George I really need to put this on you."

He stopped what he was doing to her neck and looked at her; she had on her serious face, but she was smiling. He didn't know what she was trying to play here… "Cal, seriously?! You're ganna go all doctor on me _now_? You have no shirt on! How am I supposed to be all serious when you are half naked…"

She chocked her head and gave him a mischievous glare. "Fine, I'll put my shirt on."

She leaned over the side of the exam bed to reach her belongings but he got in her way. "Wait a minute… I didn't mean right this second."

"George seriously, as your doctor I am telling you, let me put this sling on. I can't risk it anymore. As much as I want to be with you right now, I can wait if it means we can have sex _again_ later."

"So, let me get this straight, you are withholding sex for my well being?!" She realized how badly he wanted to be with her right then and there, and liked the idea of playing with his head, and body. She tried to hide her smile, but she failed.

"That's right. I am."

With that said, she helped him get his shirt back on, gently put his arm into the sling, put the strap around his head and began to adjust it when he said, "You should have put your shirt on… or at least your bra."

She gave him her sexy grin and replied, "Hey man, I tried. Not my fault you wouldn't let me…"

He sighed, "So true."


	4. Secret Kiss

Callie laughed under her breath, finished adjusting the sling and gave him an unexpected kiss on the lips. When their mouths parted, they naturally rested their foreheads together, as they've done so many times before, and breathed each other in. Callie was surprised she felt so over come; the tears filled up her eyes yet again. She tried to stop them by closing her lids, but that only made them embrace her face. George felt her joyous tears hit his chest but wasn't concerned; just like every other woman in the world, whenever Callie gets really happy, she gently cries. Not a lot of people ever saw Callie cry because she always puts up a strong front in public. She never lets her guard down with the exception of three people: her parents and George.

After a few minutes George pulled away from her, dabbed her cheeks dry, embraced her (with one hand) and whispered, "I love you baby." He could feel on his cheeks her face was beaming.

A few seconds later she whispered back, "I love _you_."

All the hurt, all the anger, all the resentment, **everything** was gone. The room was filled with nothing but peace and happiness. George and Callie had each other again in their lives. They became one. Their universe was turning in the right direction for once in their lives and they could not have been more ecstatic.

"Callie here, put your clothes back on." George reached behind him to grab her shirt and bra and held them out to her. She took a step back and flaunted her "You've got to be kidding me, I can't believe you just said that" look.

He caught on and explained, "You were shivering. And we are done with my shoulder so, let's get dressed and get out of here. Let's go home."

"We don't have a home! And there ain't no way I'm going back to Meredith's…"

"And there is no room for both of us at Cristina's…"

There was a brief moment of silence of them pondering the idea of where to go. Then, as if on cue, they smiled at each other and knew they had the same idea. After Callie put her clothes back on, she finished his chart, and they walked hand in hand down the hallway. Since it was late into the night, the hospital was pretty quiet with not too many people around.

They took the oh-so-familiar elevator to the 5th floor, walked into the surgical wing and made their way to the on-call rooms. George headed to the nearest door but Callie stopped him.

"Not that one, this one." She pointed to the room two doors down.

"What's it matter?"

She twinkled her eyes, put on her pouty face and said in her sweet tone, "That one is where we first tried… you know, to have a baby."

He looked at her astonished. "What?! You seriously remember that?"

"I'm a girl, we remember things like that!" He let out one little laugh and opened the other on-call room door for her.

"After you my wife! Oh wait, do you want me to go get us some scrubs to sleep in? I don't wanna sleep in these pants and I don't know how you could sleep in a shirt that tight!"

She glared at him, giving him the evil eye… George tried to save himself by continuing on, "Not that I'm complaining! I just thought- I mean I know how much you love your comfy clothes at night."

Her face softened and she thought a second. "You're lucky you are still on drugs. But _I'll_ go get the scrubs. You stay here and don't go anywhere! Who knows what you might get into or who you will see if you wander these halls by yourself."

"Hey! I resent that!" She gave him a quick kiss to shut him up and began to leave the room when he tugged on her hand. When she turned around, he threw himself at her forcing their lips to touch once more, giving her "their secret kiss."

_George had kissed many woman throughout his life, but with Callie, they had their own special kiss. A kiss that they __sorta__ learned how to do together…__it was a hard, passionate, peck where they start wide open, push their lips together, slowly close their mouths __in a circle-like motion __and end with one of them sucking on the other's bottom lip. It became a contest between them to see whose top lip could get the other's bottom f__irst. It was like- their thing._

When George broke the kiss, Callie's eyes were still closed; she was reminded of how much she truly loved kissing this man. He glowed knowing that pleased her and whispered in a husky voice, "I win."

She opened her eyes, saw him gloating and smirked back, "Round one… round two, we shall see who wins then." And walked out the door.


	5. Reflections

George felt a little light headed so he decided to sit down on the bed where he and his wife first tried to conceive a child. He began to reflect on the day's events in his head; little Tuck was still in the hospital, so Mer thought it would be helpful to Bailey if she took her interns down to the clinic. Everything was going fine, no problematic patients, or families for that matte. And then came Mark Sloan…

He never really liked George; even when Mark first arrived at Seattle Grace, George was the smart yet meek intern. Sure he had one of the hottest surgeons as his girlfriend, but he did not have the strength and the willpower to become a kick ass surgeon. Mark wasn't totally surprised when he found out George had to repeat his intern year… and then when he cheated on Callie, he couldn't understand how someone could do that to her. Do not misunderstand, Mark knew he had no place to judge with all the marriages he personally broke up, but you didn't have to be blind to know Callie was different. She is one of the few women who can be so vulnerable, yet still so strong and hold her head high. Mark continued to give George a hard time, in Callie's behalf, but she told him to ease up on George. Even from a distance Callie could tell George was having a hard enough time already. However, after Louise paid the O'Malley's a visit, Mark was, once again, reminded how damaged Callie _still_ felt.

Mark took the liberty upon himself to remind George what he did was still immoral, because he knew Callie couldn't hurt George on purpose without hurting herself too. All day long George was on Mark's leash and was treated like scum; there was nothing he could do about it. George thought about telling Callie what Mark was doing to him earlier on, but he figured that wasn't such the best idea.

When his shift ended, George went straight home to his sleeping bag and stayed there accompanied by his Gameboy only. And then, the imaginable happened. In came the woman he was longing for, the woman who could fix anything, who made him happier than ever, who could always find something positive out of something terrible, the woman who made him all warm and tingly, who, above all things, made him feel like a man.

He couldn't believe he popped his shoulder out! He was so humiliated… Callie had to save his ass **yet again. **But hey, what are wives for if they don't help you out every now and then. And it wasn't totally a bad thing that he hurt himself, they got to have complete privacy in the exam room. They got to talk about what happened between them; George was just glad that she took him back with her arms wide open. Literally. It was the perfect ending to a horrible day. He loved her so much and planned on showing her that forever. He just hoped Izzie would not be too upset with the whole thing. He still loved Izzie, she was one of his best friends… they just weren't meant to be lovers. But so help him if she took this out on Callie, she would no longer be his friend let alone his best friend. Izzie just has to get off her high horse and move on because that is exactly what he did.

* * *

Meanwhile, Callie too was reflecting how her life changed in the past 24 hours. After she talked to her mother in-law, she and Erica Hahn had a girls night out. Callie liked having someone closer to her age to talk to. Cristina was a good friend, but she has Meredith and isn't always home. With Addison in LA, she just needed someone to tell her she wasn't crazy for still being in love with George. Mark was an awesome friend too, he always had her back and was so supportive, but she needed a girl's perspective on things. Callie poured her broken heart out to Erica at dinner who apparently, thought it was just a rumor that Callie and George was once an item. Even though she was in complete shock that Callie would fall for someone like him, she understood what it was like to be blind sighted by the man she loved. Erica told Callie she had three choices… 

1) Steal every awesome surgery from Izzie and try to make her work life a living hell.

2) Try to find it in her heart to forgive George and Izzie and have a strictly professional relationship with them.

3) Admit she still has that lingering feeling for George and go get her man back.

Through personal experience Erica learned that she wasn't strong enough to admit that _she_ wanted her fiancé back, even after he cheated on her. She didn't want Callie to always wonder how her life would be different if she listened to her heart now and was still with George years later. Because she knew those dreams never really would go away.

So, for the next day Callie kept to herself, mostly caught up on paper work, found that lingering feeling inside her and went over to see George after work. Even though she loved him, she knew it would not be the end of the world if they did not stay together. But they either had to officially end their marriage, or officially reconcile.

**And now**, she was getting her and her husband scrubs so they would be comfortable sleeping in the same bed together, again. She reached the linen closet, grabbed two sets of scrubs and an extra blanket (George is known to pull all of the covers on his side) and quickly walked back to where he was waiting for her. She was so invested in her own little bubble, she did not even see Mark walking towards her. They would have rammed into each other if he didn't grab her shoulders to stop her!

"OH MY GOD Mark… I didn't see you there!"

"Yeah, I could tell. What's goin on? You seem… happy! Which you haven't been in a long time, which is something I would know because I'm your friend. And friend's tell each other when exciting things, or depressing things, happen to them. So, please, enlighten me. Why are you skipping the halls of Seattle Grace at this time of night all giddy? And with _two_ pairs of scrubs… and a blanket?"

Callie was speechless! She was caught; she hated how Mark was such an observant man. Since her and George broke up, they've gotten to know each other a lot better; Mark understood her pain and liked having a hot drinking buddy. Callie admired his work and never met a man who could spin a comforting action into something so sexually endearing. But if she told him why exactly she had two pairs of scrubs in her hand and why she was so blissfully happy, Mark would have a fit! It was not the conversation she wanted to have at that moment. She decided to try and change the subject.

"Well Mark, the question is, what are _you_ doing here? I mean you **never** volunteer to stay at the hospital overnight. That's a guarantee of not hitting it up with the ladies!" She cocked her head and smirked at him, hoping that was enough to get him talking about something else.

"Oh that's not totally true. People have sex in this hospital all the time! You should know…" He was trying to play with her head and she knew it.

She shook her head in disbelief and pursed her lips. "You know what, it's late, we both have to work tomorrow, and this conversation is over! Goodnight Dr. Sloan…" She passed by him and once again was on her way to George.

Mark called to her down the hallway, "Don't think you got out of explaining this! I know where to find you Callie Torres!"

"Uh hu, whatever!" She turned the corner and he was gone. For now at least.


	6. Hell to Face

When Callie walked in the on-call room, George was practically asleep already. She laughed under her breath and thought, typical George. And yet, she couldn't take her eyes off him; she always thought he looked so amazing when he slept. There have been times during those restless late nights when they were back in the hotel, where she would do nothing but watch him sleep, listen to his relaxed breathing, which would eventually make her ease back into sleep too. Without even trying he had a way of calming her; no other man ever had that affect on Callie.

She noticed his pants and shirt laying on the floor haphazardly; because of his shoulder he had to sleep on his back, so she watched his clean-cut chest slightly move up and down. She wanted so badly to wake him and make love to him, but she knew how uncomfortable he must be because of his shoulder. And to tell you the truth, she wasn't all that gentle with him earlier, on purpose.

George sensed her peering eyes on him and murmured, "What are you doing?"

"Uh, um, nothing. I got the scrubs, but it seems you already made yourself comfortable…"

"You were taking too long, you get lost or something?"

"You will never guess who I ran into." At this point Callie made her way over to the bed and George sat back up. She put the scrubs and blanket behind them and he rested his hand on her leg.

"Oh God, who?"

"Mark…"

The second she uttered Mark's name, a panic came over him. Callie was still oblivious to the slavery of Mark Slaon that George survived that day. And now that he found out about their reconciliation, George could only imagine the misery Sloan would give him **now**. George nervously said, "As in Mark Sloan?"

"Yes Mark Sloan!"

"And wh-what did he say? What did _you_ say?"

"He wanted to know why I had two pairs of scrubs this late at night, but I didn't tell him why… not exactly the conversation I wanted to have at the time."

George sighed in relief; he would live to see another day! "Oh, good."

"Why the big sigh? People are going to find out that we are the O'Malley's again eventually George. Hell, I give it a day until the whole hospital knows!"

"No, I know. I don't care about that, it's just, I'm kinda scared of Mark."

She let out a little laugh, "What?! Why?"

"Well, you know how he uses his job description to manipulate me, because of what I did to you…"

"Yeah, but I told him to stop. And he did."

"Well, not today he didn't. I mean he did, at one point, but then today he just wouldn't let up! I think he noticed how upset you were after my mom left. I mean, if I noticed, can't imagine how the people who you were actualy around could not notice."

"That's why you were so focused on your Gameboy earlier. Wait, you noticed? You knew I was upset."

"Yeah. I notice a lot from afar." George noticed a twinkle in her eyes after he said that. And of course, his eyes twinkled back.

"Alright, I'll talk to him again."

"NO, don't. Then it will seem like I just ran over complaining to my wife for help because I don't have the balls to do it myself."

"Okay fine, you can tell him we are back together and you can tell him to lay off."

"Wait, really? Just like that."

"Well what do you want me to do George?! Make up your mind!"

"Okay! Well, since he is _your_ friend, why don't you tell him we are back together and the next time he torments me, I'll call him on it." She nodded, smiled gently and agreed.

George wrapped his good arm around her back and she leaned into his bare chest. He just held her close, resting his head onto hers, breathing her in.

Callie quietly said, "So since I have to tell Mark, you have to tell Izzie."

He grumbled, "Fine. Guess it's only fair. But what do you say you get changed and we get comfortable in bed." He kissed her midnight black hair; she then sat back up and smiled at him- it was that playful, sexy smile where she curled her top lip and her eyes narrowed in. He knew that smile meant play time, but he also knew she was exhausted.

"No Cal, I mean it. I can tell you are tired and quite frankly, so am I."

"That never stopped you before…" She leaned into his body and kissed him fiercely on the lips, forcing him to lay his back onto the bed.

She repositioned herself on top him, her legs between his and started stripping her clothes. Clearly she was taking control; her lips gently made their way up his stomach to his chest, then slowly to his neck and touched every part of his scrubby face. The whole time his hands were caressing her olive skin- on her back, her hips, arms and chest. Callie began to lean against his shoulders but before she could do anything else, George let out a yelp.

"How is it that a doctor who diagnosed a patient forgets so easily where it hurts them?"

"Shit! I'm so sorry baby…" Callie quickly moved off him and he sat up again holding his bad shoulder. "I can't believe I did it again. Once I get going-"

"You think of nothing else. I know." She was a little embarrassed; not only did he know that little secret about her, but what he said was so true. "Cal it's not such a bad thing! Don't be embarrassed." He kissed her on the forehead and rested his on hers. Once again, he knew exactly how to calm her.

Callie unexpectedly gave him their secret kiss- "Even when you try to surprise me, I still win!"

"George you suck!" He giggled and kissed her again, short and sweet. He then handed her a pair of the scrubs and she reluctantly took them. George situated himself in the bed again as she changed her clothes. Callie turned the light off and nestled herself next to him. Because he had to sleep on his back, she rested her head on his chest; this way he could still hold her in his arms and have it not hurt. When she put her head on him she realized he was still just in his boxers.

"Do you want me to get you the scrubs?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. I got you." He once again, kissed the top of her head. (He loved oh-so-much to just feel and smell her hair… remember his new purchase of her shampoo…)

It was then that Callie realized she could look forward to a repeat of a night like this. Again, and again, and again. There was no other place she would rather be than in bed, falling asleep half naked in her husbands protective arms.

Unlike Callie's overwhelming feeling of blissfulness, George was overwhelmed with dread. Of course he loved his wife and promised to always be there to hold her, but tomorrow there was hell to face. At least hell from one person, Izzie. But it didn't matter, Izzie didn't matter, **Callie** mattered. And Callie wanted to tell people about their reconciliation, so that is exactly what he was going to do. He would walk out of their on-call room proudly holding his wife's hand tomorrow morning and he was going to love every minute of it.

He got through the day they ended their marriage, he could get through the day they start their marriage. Again.


	7. Mornin'

When George's eyes began to flutter open the next morning, he saw nothing but the color black. At first he started freaking out thinking he was blind or something, but once he rubbed his eyes they focused a little better, and focused on a beautiful creature lying peacefully next to him on her side. Callie's hair was right up to his nose, spread out on the pillow they were sharing. It still had the curls to it form yesterday, but it was a little messier- yet still perfect. He gently caressed her skin with his rough hand, starting at her shoulder and working his way down to her thighs and around to the front of her belly. He found her hand in the process and smoothly intertwined her fingers with his. 

She still hadn't woken up yet, which really was no surprise to George. He always said a fire alarm could go off and she wouldn't make a peep. That is, if nothing was troubling her; if there was something, anything that was on her mind, she couldn't sleep even if she took 4 sleeping pills. So, needless to say, last night was the first night in weeks she slept solid, no thanks to George. 

He decided to try waking her up by showering her with kisses. Most of the time it worked because when he kissed her lightly like that, his lips would always tickle her no matter where it was on her body. But not this morning. Today, she was conked out. After a few minutes of playful kisses to her body, he gave up. George sat up a little more in the bed, leaning on his good arm and reached over her bump-on-a-log body to get his watch. He sighed softly, knowing he could not fall back asleep. He thought about calling in for the both of them... say she had some sort of private family emergency and she needed George's help… it could work. Sure people would ask what goes on with them, but they could be sly about it! They could just stay in their on-call room and sneak out sometime during the day. This plan was sounding better and better; to top it off, he wouldn't have to deal with Izzie or Mark for another whole day! 

Still in his train of thought, Callie emerged from the covers. She could feel his warm scruffy body close against her and smiled. She then rolled over into him pushing him back onto the pillow and kissed him good morning. "Hmmm… hi."

"Bout time you work up, I thought I might have to push you off the bed to get you up!"

"Haha. I'm sure if you starting kissing me I would have-"

"Oh, I tried. For like 3solid minutes!"

"Nothing?"

"Nada."

"George, don't try to speak Spanish. It's cute, really cute, but I hate it when people speak Spanglish. Just stick to your own roots." She patted him on his chest and pulled the covers off her body. He got a little offended that his try at speaking her language didn't impress her; he thought it was so sexy when she would talk to him in Spanish… especially during sex. Guess it wasn't his thing.

George abruptly said, "Let's call in today."

"What? We are kind of already here."

"Yeah, come on! I can call the Chief for both of us, say you have a family emergency… or you could call about my shoulder! Even though it's not that big of a deal, but we could make something up." 

"George-"

"Just, think about it. I just feel like, I don't know, we need a day to… reconnect with each other. Get our groove back, ya know?" She kept quiet, thinking about the possibility of being alone with him all day long. It didn't sound too bad… of course they would have a fabulous time hanging out all day. Maybe watch "Beetle Jump" again while eating their favorite dessert, peach cobbler, and in between stealing occasional kisses. And they did have a lot to catch up on… 

"So does the silence mean yes?" 

Her eyes met his once again and could tell he really did not want to go to work today. She softly smiled and finally answered him, "It's a no George."

"What? Why? You, you had your 'happy thoughts' look on!"

"I know but-"

"No! No buts. Cal come on, please? I really want us to just have an O'Malley day, just you and me. Before all the drama starts up again…" He took her hands in his and put on his puppy dog face. "Please babe."

"Look, I agree! I think we should have a reconnecting day, and we will, but don't you think it's better to be honest about this early on? I mean you make it sound like you don't want people to know about this."

"Wait, do not think for one second that I want to hide you... hide us. I want to be with you!"

"I know-"

"I want to hold you as long as possible, I want to kiss you in front of everyone over and over again, I want to play God with you here at the hospital, I want to live with you, sleep in the same bed as you, make love to you, everything… I want it all. It breaks my heart that you think I want to do this to avoid the outside world with you!"

"Okay, okay. You don't have to get all flabbergasted. But what I was going to say also was that we are doing trauma testing with the interns today, and that includes you."

"Crap. Just my luck."

"I'm not supposed to tell you that, it's supposed to be a 'surprise' so don't say anything."

"UGH! This sucks!"

"Yeah, well… I'll be easy on ya…" She smiled and patted his leg as she got off the bed to change her clothes.

"Why are you putting your normal clothes back on? You could have just stayed in your scrubs…"

She shrugged her shoulders, "Eh, no biggy. They got all wrinkled. People might think I slept in them, I'll just get another pair."

"Oh right, I forgot. You like your clothes neatly pressed!" She glared at him which in return made him laugh. 

"Alright, guess I'll see you later?"

"Course. Wanna do lunch? Or do you eat with your new BFF now!"

"Mark and I do eat together occasionally… but I'll have lunch with you today. That will really get the rumors hoppin!" 

"Hmm, I love the way your mind works…" George finally got out of the bed and playfully grabbed her just above her hips to pull her in close. They didn't kiss, or hug, or anything. They just, were. Holding each other, nestling their faces together swaying ever so slightly side to side. They weren't even talking; the only noises in the room was coming from the hustle and bustle from the hallway outside. 

Callie broke their concentration whispering, "I'm glad your shoulder is ok." 

"Me too… I'm glad you are ok." Although he couldn't see it, he could feel the grin that came upon her face. 

"Yeah well, we will see if I'm ok tonight." He pulled away and slowly saw the sparkle in her eyes fade away. She started to tense up, thinking about how everyone will take their news, Izzie in particular. She avoided that girl as much as possible, just thinking of her pissed Callie off. But today, today there was no way to avoid her. Today would be hell. George cupped his hand on her chin and raised her head so their eyes locked.

"Hey… we can do this. We will get through this day together. We just gotta hold our heads up high with pride and confidence and love. Okay?" She nodded her head and mustered up a sweet smile. "Okay, and then tonight we can come back here if you want, or maybe do dinner first. Our first official night out on the town as Mr. and Mrs. O'Malley again."

"Yeah."

"Yeah? Yes, okay! Now, let me get my clothes on and I'll walk you to the lounge." George started to turn around but she wouldn't let go of his boxers. It was like she was holding on for dear life; he could slightly feel the pressure from her nails digging in his sides. He peeled her hands away from his body and gave her a peck on the lips. Once again, she would not let him go; she kept kissing and kissing him! 

When he finally got the chance to stop her, he giggled and said, "Save that for later missy!" He grasped the back of her hair and kissed her forehead. Now it was her turn to enjoy the view… Callie took a step back and memorized every inch of his bare body. He knew she was watching, so he danced around for her. Kind of like a strip tease but instead of taking his clothes off, he was putting them on. 

This made Callie laugh hysterically, which made him happy. Her sparkle was back. After George's performance, they grabbed their things; not saying anything just a quick kiss for good luck, they left their on-call room hand in hand. 

They noticed a few confused glances from fellow doctors/nurses as they made their way to the resident lounge, but that was to be expected. Once they reached their destination, the butterflies were fluttering back into her stomach and she became nervous. This was it, once she went in there, people would be able to tell something is up and she would have to tell them. You would think she would want to shout it from the roof tops that George was her husband again, but she couldn't help thinking how they might view her. She knew they were still in love, she knew it still felt right, but what would other people see? What if they saw her as now a pathetic, stupid woman for taking back her husband who had an affair? Was she being stupid? Callie looked at George and instantly her question was answered, no. 

Of course she was not stupid, just to see him grin like that… knowing it was because of her… made her realize this was not wrong; it was so right. Callie didn't give a crap what other people thought about her before and she sure as hell wasn't going to start now. 

She turned to George, shrugged her shoulders and sighed. He shook his head in response, "No. Don't think that. We'll get through this. I promise. We will. I'll tell Izzie and you tell Sloan. And whoever else you want." He quickly kissed her before she could answer him, which did nothing but make her calm. 

"I'll see ya during the drill then George."

"Can't I be in your group? Or at least get the Polaroid camera again…" 

She chuckled and said, "I'll see what I can do. But if you do get the camera, you have to actually record the drill, not me."

"I don't know what you are talking about! Last time I was just-"

"Goodbye George!" Callie headed into the revolving door, looking over her shoulder at her husband. 

BAM. She hit Mark's buff body.

"Twice in 10 hours that Callie Torres smashed into me now, all smiley with your head high in cloud-nine!"

"Heeey Mark." Crap. She knew he wouldn't let it go this time, she had to tell him now. Mark looked past the window and saw George leaving, also on could-nine. 

"OH. My. GOD. Woman what am I going to do with you!"


	8. How Mark Feels

"Excuse me, but I am _not_ your woman!" 

"You're tellin me. Apparently your George O'Malley's woman, _again_!" By now Callie was at her cubby and continued to do her thing while Mark babbled on… "Callie Callie Callie, you know I love you, right?"

"Um, no."

"Well, I do. So listen when I say that this is **not good**. Not good at all…"

"And why's that?"

"He's going to hurt you again! It may not be right away, but he will hurt you somehow and you'll be even worse than before. And I'll have to pick up the pieces of your broken heart and his broken body."

"What! Look, Mark, last night I went to go see George about a divorce and-"

"And you decided what, it was too much work? You though, why not just pretend like the whole infidelity thing never happened? Come on Callie, men will say anything to get a spectacular woman, like yourself,back when they know they screwed themselves over."

"Well, we actually made plans to get the papers started, but then he popped his shoulder out again."

"HAHA nice one Callie!" She glared at him giving her evil eye; the one where only her right eyebrow goes up and she scrunches her lips, Mark knew that glare well and shut right up.

"He popped his shoulder out and I brought him here-"

"Wait, **you** brought him here?"

"Mark! Shut your trap or I swear to God next time Erica embarrasses you, I won't back you up. I'll be on her side!" He raised his hands surrendering. "Thank you. As I was saying, I brought him here, I fixed his shoulder, he said he missed me… one conversation let to a kiss which led to some other things."

"Some other things, as in sex?"

"No, no sex. We couldn't because of his shoulder… dur."

"Wait, wasn't he on very strong pain meds?"

"Yeah."

"So what makes you think any of what he said was true?"

"Because I asked him. And you know how many times patience bare their souls to us when they are drugged… what they say is very true. And kinda scary. The only reason they say those things in the first place is-"

"Because they are on the meds and would never have the guts to do it otherwise. Yeah, okay." She nodded in satisfaction, turned back around and began to put scrubs on. Mark all the while was watching her back muscles move as her body moved, just like George did the night before. Mark would never have the courage to tell Callie how he truly felt about her; if he did, she wouldn't believe him. If she did believe him, he knew she would not want to be his close friend anymore, it would be too awkward for her, and Callie avoids awkwardness whenever possible. 

He didn't tell her he's in love with her before because she was still bent up over the whole George/Izzie situation. And now, it was too late again. That damn O'Malley trumped Mark Sloan once again. And obviously she still loved George, so what was the point.Mark would just have to continue on flirting with Erica Hahn so people would still be clueless that he was in love with another woman. 

In a serious (as serious as Mark Sloan could be) voice he asked, "Do you love him? Like really, like when you first got married?"

Callie didn't even turn around to answer him, she just kept busy. She could tell Mark was disappointed in her, but she really wasn't asking for his approval. "Yes."

"And he loves you just the same?"

"Yeah, he really does."

"Then why are you flaunting yourself in front of me right now? It's the same way you got dressed after we had sex a few months ago… I don't know how you do it, but you have this little special way of getting dressed. Like a routine, and it drives me crazy!" **Now** Callie turned around. _Is he seriously trying to win me over from George right now? What do I say to that? I'm just, changing! Not trying to get into his pants!_

"Because this is where my cubby is Mark, in the lounge, where people tend to take their clothes off. What, are you jealous now Mark? Now, that you are not the only substantial man in my life anymore?" 

"All I'm saying is you know me. **You know me** and you know I have a soft spot when it comes to woman taking their clothes off in front of me. Especially when they do it on purpose to get into my pants, like in a flirty way but not in an 'I want you' way…"

"What the hell are you talking about?" 

_Crap, what am I talking about? I just can't stand here, watching her take her clothes off in front of me and not be able to touch her soft, olive skin. I can't do it! I either need to walk away, or kiss her. Right now. Okay Mark, make a decision. _

"Uh, erm, I don't know. Nevermind. But I do know how much he hurt you before, and… as your friend, I don't want you putting yourself in a situation where you're setting up for a disaster. It's only a matter of time-"

"For what Mark? I believe in George. I always have. I don't care what other people might say about me, I mean yeah, I've thought about how people might react but I'm not going to make a decision on what other people tell me, including you. I would like it though if you could try to find it in your heart to forgive him, just like I did. You are an awesome friend Mark, of course I'm going to listen to what you say and I appreciate how much you care about me. Honestly I didn't know you felt so protective of me, it's actually sweet." After that remark, he began to blush. Not too many women could make him blush either. He tried to hide it, but even in the poor lighting she could see his cheeks turn rosy pink. 

Callie smiled back at him and continued on, "I guess what I'm trying to say here is that I do care about you and what you have to say Mark, I just hope that me choosing George doesn't ruin _our _relationship. Because I'll need you."

"You'll need me… for what? Not for support, not for sex, not for advice."

"Yes for support, yes for advice, and we hadn't have sex besides those three times when George and I broke up the first time. So, you can't bring sex into it." They both giggled softly and the two friends came to an agreement; they would continue to be there for each other no matter what the circumstance. 

Deep down inside, Mark knew he was doomed. 

Deep down inside, Callie knew she was lying to herself. 


	9. The Drill

It wasn't until the trauma drill that George even saw Izzie. He made a vow to himself that he would tell her about Callie before lunchtime. Meanwhile, the drill was going by relatively fast for him. Once again, he had the duty of recording the drill using the Polaroid camera, and despite how irresistible Callie looked right now, he was actually doing his job quite well. George always found her particularly sexy when she was bossing people around… she had that serious attitude and that stern voice. Callie was usually giddy and all smiles around him, so it was only at the hospital that he got to witness her bossy side. So, not only did he love to team up with her on a case for the learning experience, but he also loved to just sit back and watch. She was so in her element as a doctor, it was obvious this was what she was meant to do on this earth. Besides being the mother of his children of course.

Whenever Callie was presenting something, or telling the interns why to do this and not that in a real crisis, George would make funny faces at her. The first time he did it, she was totally caught off guard; she lost her train of thought and began to stutter. No one really caught on to his game though, except Izzie. When she did not have to watch her interns, she would watch George. Izzie knew something was up between George and Callie… firstly, she never heard back from him after Callie took him to the hospital to fix his shoulder last night. And second, George was eyeing Callie nonstop! Not once did he look at her… Izzie was pissed, hut, jealous and curious all at the same time.

_God, when will this drill be over! It's sooo long when we don't get interrupted by any ferry crash. Come on… pager, go off! 911, right-- now. DAYUM!. I need to talk to George. Look, Callie isn't even acknowledging him! Is she blind? He clearly has his horny face on… what the hell is with those two?!_

Callie was done explaining her part and now it was Izzie's turn. Although, it seemed she was too far in thought to even realize Callie was calling her name… "Stevens, you're up… Dr. Stevens. Earth to Dr. Stevens!"

Meredith nudged Izzie and she stumbled a couple steps forward. "What you do that for?"

"Iz, you're up."

"What?" She looked around and noticed **everyone** was staring at her. Izzie's cheeks became rosy pink. "Oh, sorry."

Callie was obviously annoyed by the situation; she rolled her eyes and moved next to George. A flustered Dr. Stevens did her thing, but it was pretty noticable that she wanted to finish as soon as possible. She was talking fast and when she asked her interns a question, she barley gave them time to answer, they were lucky if they got one word out. Everyone else was getting a kick out of how unprofessional she was being. That is, everyone except Bailey. Izzie's plan was to finish the drill and quickly pull George to the side to find out what went down with Callie. However, the instint it ended, Bailey got to Izzie first. Which meant Callie got to George first.

They used the excuse of the pictures he took to leave together, the Chief needed them in his office. "So, where we going? Back to the on-call room? A closet? The lounge maybe? I've never been in there before, but from what I hear it's pretty comfy for two arroused people."

"George! No, none of the above. You're shoulder still needs some healing time."

"Exactly. My shoulder. Everything else is fine, trust me. I had to take a cold shower in the locker room this morning to calm little George down." Callie started to giggle, she wasn't surprised. Didn't take her much to get him perky. Kinda made her feel good about herself honestly…. That she had power over a man without even really trying… she'll admit, she's a fox.

"Sorry babe, maybe later. Right now we gotta get these pictures to the Chief. He's actually expecting them."

"Ugh! Fine. Afterwards?"

"We'll see." She looked over at him, he was fiddling with the pictures in his hands, but she noticed his smile was practically taking up half of his face. Callie grabbed his arm, pulled him closer and laid a big, wet kiss on his beaming cheek. He looked up in surprise and was going to return the show of affection, but a look of seriousness made him pause. Callie stopped walking right in the middle of the hallway; he pulled her over to the side and she just started rambling away.

"We're going to see the Chief, together. What if he suspects George? What if he catches on how we both are actually happy again? Do you think he'll say something, ask us what's going on? Should we tell him? I mean why not, right? He's ganna know sooner or later, better to hear it from us, right? George, why are you looking at me like that? I'm not crazy! It could happen!"

"Why are you freaking out?"

"I don't know, I just…" She turned her back to him, which only made him go around so he could see her face again. She wasn't crying or anything, but clearly something was up. "I just, hadn't thought about the Chief. Mark, Izzie… yeah. But not _him_!"

"Why does it matter? I agree, he will find out eventually, so better to hear it from us. I mean watch, by the time he hears about it, he'll hear something like 'Callie's pregnant. The only reason they are back together is because of the baby.' Then he will start freaking out how he will have to find a replacement for his best ortho surgeon."

"What? Is that what you think? Because I'm not-"

"No! I know that… but that's my point. We should tell him so there is no miscommunication. And now would be the perfect time."

"Yeah. Okay. But you say it."

"That's fine, but we have to keep moving." George dropped the pictures in his lab coat pocket and slipped his hand in hers. It was clammy; Callie was nervous. But he didn't know why… he couldn't get to the Chief's office fast enough. George wanted to tell him, but why **was** she freaking out? Callie was not usually like that.

When they reached his office, Callie would not let go of Geroge's hand. Not at all…

* * *

Once the Chief's office door closed behind them, both George and Callie let out a long, relieved breath. "That wasn't too bad."

"Thanks for telling him George. I don't know why, but I was just so nervous. Even more than when we got back from Vegas…"

"Yeah, I noticed. Know any good ortho doc I could go see to check out my hand? I think my wife broke it from holding on so tight…" His attempt to make her laugh worked. She was still a little uneasy, but definitely not as bad as before. "But I think it was good that we were both there, ya know? It helped. But I knew he would be cool with it; the Chief likes you and I think he feels sorry for me because of the whole failing-my-intern-exam thing. So it's all good baby!" He smiled and kissed her softly on the lips. George could tell she was a lot more relaxed now, so he figured it was a good time to get back to work. He also had to go find Izzie.

The O'Malleys agreed to eat lunch in the cafeteria in a few hours. Sure there would be a lot of snickering and ugly/confused looks from everyone around, but together, they could conquer the world. A few people staring was not going to affect their lunch date.


	10. How Izzie Feels

Meredith didn't have any exciting cases for him today, so for a while George just lingered around the hospital to buy some time. Then he finally did it; he paged her. Not two minutes later did she find him. Too excited to see him, mind you. She screeched his name from down the hall and everyone looked in their direction. If she was going to be like this **now**… they had to go in a room or something. Before he could protest, she quickly swept him in for a tight hug.

"Heeeyy Izzie. Why don't we go in the conference room?" He ushered her inside, trying to act normal for all the peering eyes around them.

"What's up?! How's your shoulder? I saw you at the drill today, but I don't think you saw me really. I'm sure you were worried about recording the drill and all." George close the door behind them, just in case.

"Yeah… Callie said it should be fine after it heals up. Still a little sore, you know, hurt like a mother when she set it."

"Aww. You should have called me! I would have come here and distracted you. Honestly, I got a little worried George, when you never came home last night I wasn't sure what happened to you. You didn't call or text, or anything."

George slowly turned away from Izzie and went to the other side of the table. He wasn't too sure on his choice of words, but he did not want to be too close to her in case she decided to physically berate him. Okay, ease gently…. "Sorry, it really wasn't a big deal. Callie actually helped me a lot."

"Oh. Sh-she did?"

"Yeah… that's part of the reason why I paged you." He paused, took a deep breath, and noticed how eager she looked. Why was he scared? She was, well is, his best friend… he should be able to tell her anything and everything. And yet, it was just as hard, if not harder, than he anticipated.

_Crap. Here it comes. Don't say you picked her George. Don't say it. Don't say it. Don't say it._

"Callie and I talked about a lot of stuff last night. Well, first she came to the house to talk about getting a divorce…" Old news. Izzie heard their whole conversation. Little did they know her ear was firmly pressed against the office door the whole time. Izzie didn't even have to be in the room and she could tell that he was longing for Callie. She knew that tone he had in his voice… the tone he used to use with her back in the day.

As Izzie was remembering the last nights events, George continued to talk. It wasn't until he actually said the words that she snapped back. "And after seeing and talking to her, I realized… I'm still in love with her. Turns out she's still in love with me too."

Okay, Izzie was past eagerness. She was shocked. She figured something went on last night, but how could he… "Wait, you _love_ her?"

"I know it might seem sudden and totally out of the blue, but we want to make it work. You know? I missed her, a ton, after we split and-"

"You MISSED her?!"

"Well, yeah… why are you looking at me like that?"

"Wasn't it not two weeks ago when you declared your love to ME?! How does that work! You can't love two completely different people George! Not at the same time… and you missed her. When? Huh? Was it when you were laying alone at night in your sleeping bad, or was it when you were laying in my bed next to _me_?"

"Why are you buggin so damn much?"

"I'm buggin George because you're, you're my best friend and I'm in love with you. I'm buggin because we were thinking about a future together. I mean, you left her for _me_. Doesn't that say something right there? I don't think you really love her, I think you love the idea of her. She has money, she has brains, she has the success-"

"NO! No, I loved the idea of you Izzie. I left her because, well I never had two beautiful women fighting over me before."

"Oh, nice one George."

"No, that's not only why… Callie, she's my life partner. The other half of me. And you, you're like my high school sweetheart who then becomes your friend. Because you understand each other and have history. I still love you Izzie. I'm just—not **in **love with you. And I'm sorry it took me an affair to realize it, but like we said before. It's not our chemistry. Honestly, and I'm not saying this to hurt you, but I don't think I ever fell out of love with her. Even when you and I were together.I think there is a part of me that always knew Callie was the one, but for some reason I listened to you more. You were saying how much you loved me and how amazing we could be, and how we are perfect... it was just too good to be true. Callie and I are real. We are real flawed people who desperatly love each other."

"I'm not flawed enough for you?"

"Izzie... come on. Don't blame yourself. You know how important you are to me. But Callie is my wife. I don't want to leave her."

"And you think you have what it takes?"

"Yes. If we didn't, I would not be standing here having this conversation with you! As bad as this may sound, I think we needed to split to realize just how perfect we are."

"I see. Well, I'm sorry George, I think she's a great doctor, but I don't think she is great for you. Tell me George, tell me how many times you came running to me before we slept together complaining, whining about something Callie did or said, or whatever. I'll tell you, too many times to count! You can't be committed to someone you find annoying!"

"Callie is not the annoying one right now."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

George was getting frustrated. She was not hearing his side of things. Izzie is stubborn naturally, but this was getting ridiculous. "Look, I'll admit I married her party because of my dad. That's what he wanted for me. Callie. And we were still, learning things, about each other after we went to Vegas. But now, I don't care about all those little things! If anything, they made her more perfect. More, human. You have to love someone despite all their flaws."

"Duh George. I still love you even though you kiss like a chicken."

"What?"

"Every time you kissed me it was like you were a chicken pecking at your food on the dirt!"

"Oh yeah! Well, you… you hover! Not once did I have a moment alone when we were, you know, a couple. Not even on the toilet!"

"ARGH! I can't take this anymore! You know what, I hope you and Callie stay together just for the fact that I won't have to deal with you anymore George O'Malley!" With that said, Izzie stormed off out of the room.

As she walked away George yelled back, "Well thank you for your support! Ex-best friend!"

George pulled out a chair and sat down. He tried to reason with Izzie, tried to explain, calmly, why they did not work as lovers and why him and Callie did; he tried to be cool with the whole thing, but now… now he was enraged. Izzie pissed him off. Plain and simple. _Screw her. Who needs her? Not George O'Malley, so sir. I could care less about Izzie Stevens. That ship has totally sailed off into the sunset. And I certainly don't kiss like a chicken damn it!! _

* * *

When Izzie reached the lounge, she let out another "argh" and punched a cubby. Hurt her hand a bit too. She could care less about her hand though. She sat down on the bench and ran her fingers through her hair; no tears were coming, she wasn't really sad, just hurt. Just plain hurt that the man she loves, who loved her back not only two weeks ago, was married. Again. George was her best friend for a while now, she accepted the fact that they did not work as lovers, really she did. But she did not accept George and Callie's marriage the first time, why would she accept it now? How could she… how could he.

"So, you know too?" Izzie almost jumped off the bench, totally not expecting to hear anyone else's voice.


	11. McStizzie

Izzie whipped around and saw Mark slouched on the couch, obviously not in his normal flirty mood. "Oh, hey Dr. Sloan. Sorry I didn't know, you were, like, there."

"Yeah, I figured when you started mumbling to yourself, cursing and everything."

Clearly embarrassed, she swiveled back around on the bench so he could not see her mortified face. Slowly and carefully, she made her way towards him. "Don't you have surgeries Dr. Sloan?"

"Nope. You?"

"No."

"Thank God too. Just, not a good day."

"Oh yea…" Now slouching on the couch too, Izzie clarified why she was in a huffy mood. "George and I had a fight. Again."

"Let me guess, you don't approve of the O'Malley reconciliation either?"

"You know about that huh."

"Callie told me this morning. I've been hiding out in here as much as possible. Saving a life is not worth it when I can't gloat."

"He's my best friend. He said he loved me. He left a marriage for ME and then turns around and says, oh just kidding."

"I know the feeling…"

"How? You're Mark Sloan, Seattle's new man whore. What do you know about your heart being crushed."

"Addison. I loved her, really! Don't look at me like I'm not capable of love. Because I am. Capable." Mark sighed and that blank stare only became more prominent. _Callie. _

Izzie grunted in disbelief. "Yeah right."

"Seriously! I loved Addison. We were ganna try to make it work too, after the ferry crash. But then she went and slept with someone else, then she up and left for LA."

"Sorry. I didn't know."

"No one really did. It's ok though, Callie helped me."

"What?! You and Callie. All this time!"

"Not like that! She was with George. **She** was the faithful one." Izzie rolled her eyes and looked down to the floor. "Hey, I believe that you loved him. It is possible to love someone even though they are committed to someone else. If God is on your side, it will work out. If not… you gotta try and let it go."

"I cannot just let him go. If I could snap my fingers and not love him anymore, I would. Trust me! But I just- can't." Mark sighed and gently rubbed her back to try and ease her pain. He really did feel sorry for her, even if she was Callie's mortal enemy. In this moment, he totally understood where she was coming from.

"Somewhere along the way, you will find someone to help you get over him. Might not be today, but soon. You will. Like I did. I found Callie. And believe it or not, I'm over Addison. I miss her smile and that sexy red hair, but I found my princess. And I truly believe you will find your prince."

She turned around to look at him which in return made him retract his hand from her back. For a moment, he seemed, so real. Mark Sloan had sincerity, if that was possible. She broke the sad moment by snipping, "Callie's no angel."

"I did not say that. She's a princess. There is a big difference." Which is just another reason why he was so much in love with the woman.

"You know, you have a soft side Dr. Sloan. I would have never guessed it! You just have this front of the 'sexy, hot, know-it-all doc' but you are deeper than all that."

"Eh, I hide it well. And Izzie, call me Mark." He finally emerged from the couch but Izzie stayed put. "I'm going to pee. You better have that giddy smile back on your face when I am done." She nodded her head and pondered about what he just said.

_I'll find my prince. Someday… a new man will swift me off my feet and I'll be over George. God I just hope it doesn't take forever._

And then he bathroom door opened. Mark was fixing his lab coat and looked so... freakin hot. There is just no other way to put it. Maybe it was because of the dim light, or the fact that he just came from the bathroom, or that he just showed his vulnerability to her, or if it was his longer silver hair he was growing out and the stubbles on his face. Or maybe it was all of the above. Izzie could not help herself, her eyes widened and as she continued to watch him swagger over to his cubby, that giddy smile definitely found its way back. He was too focused on his Blackberry to notice her and thank heavens for that; one more drop of her jaw and she was a goner. He definitely lived up to his McSteamy name well. Izzie always told herself she would never give in to his womanizing antics, but bloody hell! The man was just, delicious!

"Maybe that day to find my prince **is** today." Mark looked up from his Blackberry and saw a familiar look on Izzie's face. Yes, that was the face of hunger. Not food hunger, Mark-oh-I-want-you-Sloan hunger. Honestly, he was sort of surprised. Not two minutes ago he was giving her advice to mend her broken heart. Sure he said eventually she would find someone to help her get through it, but eventually being the key word there. And he was most definitely not her prince. Of course he thought she was a hot, skinny blond and wanted to bone her before, but was she seriously wanting him right, now?

Izzie lifted herself off the couch and walked towards him. In her low, seductive voice, she said, "what, you don't want me? I know you wanted me before so don't you dare say you don't want me now…" She brushed up against him, where it matters most, tilted her head ever so slightly and smiled, ever so sexy. The whole time their eyes were locked. She would not pull him close, or kiss him, or touch him period; right now she was playing him. And even though this was Mark Sloan we are talking here, it worked, like a charm. Izzie had her own irresistible charm that most men could not ignore. However, Mark had it too, and the two of them together… well. **That** was something.

* * *

Clothes scattered throughout the lounge, blinds drawn and door locked, Mark laid half on top of Izzie and half on the couch. Their legs intertwined but his back was up close against the cushions. They were both spent, both out of breath, but both completely satisfied. Looked like Mark found a new favorite resident! That is, who he was not in love with. But nobody knew he loved Callie, not even Derek who he told everything to. Someday soon, he hoped she would know. Eventualy, he wanted to tell her. But now that she was back with her husband... well.

Izzie gave him a quick kiss on the lips and said, "That was a good idea to lock the door. Although, we better hurry because from the sounds of those three unhappy people who tried to get in, I'm sure they will be back. And with someone who has a key."

"Yeah, right. Let me… get off you here…" He fixed himself up so Izzie could get off the couch. Mark leaned in to her body to kiss her, but she got up too quick, and not even acknowledging his try at affection. The disappointed look on his face quickly turned to a longing gaze as he watched a naked Izzie, butterfly tattoo and all, jump around the room, gathering her clothes. Even though she was very beautiful, she was not Callie. Its funny how now, every woman Mark looks at, he compares to her. Not purposefully, just without even knowing, he does it.

Izzie's skin was soft like Callie's, but it was not golden, it was sort of a pasty white color actually. And her body was curvy too, but not curvaceous. Her legs were long and lean, like a dancer, but not muscular and strong like an athlete. Callie still had her figure from when she played 'futbol,' as she so famously called it. Izzie made due, but Callie had it all.

"So uh, thanks Mark. You helped me out, a lot, today."

"No problem. Any time you feel the heat, you know how to find me." _Crap. I hope she doesn't take that literally…_

Izzie's pager went off just in time as she finished getting dressed. "Shit. I gotta go. Duty calls."

"I suppose I should go check on my patients too. Be the responsible, hard working doc , and all that talk." She put his scrubs and boxer briefs in his lap, which covered himself enough. Mark lightly grabbed her arm before she could pull away, he just had to clarify… "You're not going to-I mean, this, what just happened will be… you know. Between us? I mean it's no secret that I sleep around, but for George and Callie's sake."

"Hell no! I'm not ganna tell anyone. Intentionally at least."

"Good. Okay! Guess I'll see ya around then." Izzie giggled and shook her head as she turned her back to him. "What's so funny?"

"It's just, you, Mark Sloan head of plastic surgery, does not want anyone to know that you slept with another blond?! What, was this some sort of revenge sex? To get back at George? Or you just thought, what the hell. Why not!"

"Hey, you came on to me remember. I was just trying to help you before, you know talk it out… but you Izzie Stevens are the one who wanted **me**!"

"Yeah, okay you're right. Whatever, I'm not mad. I'm not going to get all upset over you, or how you are ashamed or, whatever the reason is. We had sex. End of story. I just really have to go!" She unlocked the door, waved back at him and was out of the lounge.

Even though no one could hear him, he yelled back, "I'm not ashamed! I take my sex life with pride! I just don't want **her** to know. If Callie finds out I had sex with her enemy… there goes the possible chance of a Torres/Sloan clan."

He was all alone in a quiet, darkly light room, still butt naked, wishing for some sort of miracle to bring back his princess.


	12. The Start of a Pretty Big Adventure

Lunch wasn't actually that bad. George and Callie ate at their normal table. Eventually Meredith and Cristina came over to make sure what they heard was true, that the O'Malley's were the O'Malley's again. Meredith was happy; there were an inspiration, an example, as to how true love can bring two people back together. Despite what just happened between her and Derek, George and Callie gave her a little bit of hope.

Cristina was more worried about finding a roommate again. She and Callie were just starting to get their grove with the whole living together situation. Callie would make breakfast and start the cappuccino; just the smell of her ham omelet would get Cristina out of bed. Then Callie would leave for her morning yoga class as Cristina would take her shower. Then after their shifts at the hospital, if neither of them had plans they would bash talk the interns. Sometimes they would even watch re-runs of ER (Callie had all current seasons on DVD). There were times when they stayed up till 2am, laughing hysterically over how ridiculously incorrect the procedures and surgeries were done at County General. Not to mention the lingo… if it wasn't the technical talk that got them rolling, it was the actors fake, Chicago accent. Some could pull off the flat 'A' sound; others should not have even tried. Anyway, the point was Cristina liked her roomy and it was going to be really hard to find someone who could meet the high bar Callie set.

But, Callie assured Cristina that they could still have their bashing sessions. She could even come over to her and George's new place, once they got one, to watch ER. Cristina's response: "Whatever."

Then Alex showed up. His only comment, "so does this mean I get my own bathroom again?" In all seriousness.

Basically, all of their close friends were in the cafeteria. Minus Mark and Izzie. Come to think of it, no one really saw them much at all lately, but then again Seattle Grace was a huge hospital. Still, Izzie never missed an opportunity to gossip at the lunch table. And on a day like today… this was a big lunch to miss. Eventually, they all had to get back to their work day; people to save, crisis' to solve, all that jazz. Not once did George or Callie see their best friends the rest of their shifts. It was sort of a relief, but then again, they should not be avoiding them either. Mark and Izzie should support the O'Malley's. Right?

* * *

George watched Callie through the lounge window as she gathered her things together. He could tell the emotional day took a toll on her. She was sort of lagging, taking her time getting ready. George wanted to take her to dinner tonight, maybe go downtown, walk hand in hand by the water and watch the boats dock. That was something George did with his dad and brothers as a kid. They did not live too far away from the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, so during those late summer nights all four of them would jump in the family truck, drive near the bridge and walk by the shore. Sure it was a super small beachfront, if you could call it that, but at some parts there was enough sand to lay on. Eventually Ronnie and Jerry would start a rock skipping contest, but George would always win. If they got lucky, a boat big enough to make some worthwhile waves would sail through and toot the fog horn as the captain saw the boys off shore, wailing their arms like crazy trying to get his attention. Then, when George was old enough to go there on his own, the water under the bridge became his holy ground. He would talk to himself, or sometimes scream, and no one could hear him. It was the one peaceful, private spot in town.

Turns out Callie loved to watch the sun set over the ocean in Florida growing up. Since she lived off the beach, she would sneak out of the house and sit on the warm sand, listen to the waves crash and sometimes even hear the dolphins off in the distance. Her house was great, pretty gi-normous actually, but honestly, if she could live outside on the beachfront, she would. There was just something about it that was so… peaceful. It really was where the earth and sky touched. Even though they were coasts apart and never met, subconsciously George and Callie were already syncing together by means of the ocean.

Suddenly, George thought of a new idea for the nights events. Something he was sure would make her relax. He went inside the lounge, greeted his wife with a kiss hello and proceeded to hug her. Coconut. Yep. She just showered. "Mmmm. You are the devil, you know how much I love your shampoo. It's too hard to resist…"

"Oh right I forgot, you even bought some yourself to use you love it so much!"

"Um, no. I do not use it. I don't know what you are talking about."

"Oh come on George, I could smell it last night when we were in the same bed. I know the smell very well."

George grunted, "Fine. You happy? I, George O'Malley, use a girly shampoo every now and then. NOT all the time, but I do love the smell of fresh coconut!" Callie started to giggle and kissed him sweet on the lips. "You ready to go now baby?"

"Where we goin?"

"You'll see."

"Ah George, you know I like to know our plans. Especially if you plan them. Then, if they are stupid, I can make a backup plan."

"Yeah, well. You won't need a backup plan. I promise." She looked at him a little skeptical; some of George's former plans that he promised to be perfect consisted of mini-golf (turns out he has no hand-eye coordination what so ever), a picnic in the park (where they just happened to lay the blanket on top of a giant aunt hill), and a trip to Safeco Field to watch the Mariners get creamed by the Devil Rays. Sure they had awesome seats, front row- first base side, and it was Callie's home team and George's home team playing, but later that night Callie got a call from her padre. Apparently they were caught on tv making out after Raul Ibanez hit a three run home run; her mother found it cute, her father not so much. That was the last time Callie let George make all the plans. But George insisted nothing bad could even possibly happen during tonight's events. So, she reluctantly agreed to go.

"I need your keys though. Seeing as you drove us here last night because I had a dislocated shoulder, I don't have my car here. So, I need your keys to drive."

"Or, you could just tell me where we are going and I could dive!"

"Ha Ha. Nice try chica."

With George driving, their first stop was Cristina's. George told Callie to quickly grab whatever she needed to spend the night somewhere. She tried getting out of him what kind of clothes she might need, then maybe he would hint something, but he just said "get your yoga pants and Harvard Alumni shirt you look so hot in, and work clothes for tomorrow."

Operation clothes comparison: failed.

Next stop was Mer's house so George could do the same thing. They looked to see who's cars were in the driveway to predict any awkward run-ins with a specific blond, but it seemed only Mer was home. Phew. With a quick hello/goodbye and a sift through his suitcase, George was out the door.

"So, now that we're all set with our cute overnight bags, where to?"

"Wife, relax. We will be there very shortly."

"Shortly? We are not going back to the Archfield, are we?"

"Um no. I'm more creative than that. Wait, are you nervous? Wow. My Callie is nervous… don't you trust me?"

"Trust is not the issue here. I just do not want to get caught anywhere on camera where my parents might witness something they should not. Again."

George chuckled, not only did he get chewed out at Joe's by his father in-law, but on the phone as well. Even though they were married at the time of the 'incident,' Mr. Torres apparently did not like his daughter showing public displays of affection. Meah- he will get over it. Hopefully.

"There is no way we could get caught on camera tonight. Well, video camera anyway."

"What?!"

"Digital camera, probably."

Callie smacked his arm and smirked. "Not funny George."


	13. Caught in the Act

"You know what your problem is? You need to loosen up. We're supposed to be having fun and you're too worried about getting in trouble by your parents. Who, mind you, live thousands of miles away."

"I know I know. I'm sorry. I'll try to stop. God I hate how they still have this affect on me. I'm a grown, married woman. You would think I would be able to handle my own parents by now."

"Nah. I don't think anyone can really over take their parents fully. You could live so many miles away, or not have the best relationship, or love them dearly, hell they could even be dead, but your parents will always be in the back of your mind. As their offspring, you are constantly trying to prove to them how great of a person you are. It's kind of twisted if you think about it. Big brother is always watching. Times four."

Callie did not say anything. She just looked at him in amazement. Her George really has grown since they first met; hell, since they ended their marriage a few weeks ago. Well what do you know, he eased her mind. Again. He seemed to have that affect on her a lot in the past 24 hours. She leaned over the middle counsel and kissed his cheek a couple times. Her right hand found the inner side of his leg where she squeezed his muscles. Her lips pecked their way to the side of his mouth. Without thinking anything of it, he turned his head so she could get all of his lips. Between the rubbing and squeezing down _there_ and her plump lips devouring his face, George sort of forgot about paying attention to the road.

That quickly changed once a semi blared his horn and the blinding headlights flashed in front of them.

George yelled some cuss words and Callie screamed his name in reflex. With a jolt of the wheel and a few swerves, George pulled the car over to the side of the road. A split second later and her hard ass Mustang would have been a broken ass one. For a minute they just sat there, breathing heavy from sheer panic. Then, the instant their eyes met, their laughs busted out.

"I can't believe I almost killed us!"

"I can't believe I almost made you kill us!" Even though they were still laughing, George reached over and kissed Callie out of relief. Just like that, he won round three for the day.

"Woohoo! I finally got you with our secret kiss!" He was so excited that his arms shot up in response. Seeing as Callie's car had a short roof, you can guarantee that he hit his hands. A tingling sensation went through his arms; that didn't exactly help his healing shoulder either. Callie started laughing even harder. George could be such a goof sometimes, didn't take much for her to start hooting. Still giggling, she asked if he was ok.

"Yeah, I'll live. Just forgot about how small this car can be sometimes."

"Hey, my car kicks arse."

"Apparently."

While George was focused on his arm, Callie got an idea. "George..."

"Callie…"

There was that sexy grin and those fluttering eye lashes… not to mention her body language, inching her way closer to him.

"Daym woman. Right **now**?" She mumbled an "uh hu," seeing as she could not really talk because she was biting her bottom lip looking ever-so-hungry. For him. She flung her seat belt off, then undid his too and grabbed his shirt, pulling him towards her, trying to make him get out of his own damn seat and into hers.

"Cal, my dad's old Buick is one thing, but this… it aint ganna work. Not even the back seat!"

"Jesus George! Just. Get. Over. Here." With one last yank he had no choice but to lift his legs, one at a time, over the middle counsel. Callie moved the seat all the way back and all the way down to make as much room as possible. With him leaning on the back of her seat, he fluttered her with kisses all over her flushed face. Meanwhile, she worked on his pants. And hers as well. There was really no time, or space, to fully take their clothes off, but they made due. With a zip, a tug and shimmy and a shake, George and Callie were _finally_ together. And planned to be, forever.

* * *

A little winded, Callie said, "oh God I missed you" and kissed him once more. George grinned in response, feeling pretty damn good knowing he satisfied her so well; considering the circumstances. Jumping on each other for the first time, well, in a long time, in the front seat of her Mustang on the side of an expressway... yeah, that was sort of dirty. Yet so exhilarating all at the same time. Sure it was quick, but when two people have been having hot, wake-up-in-cold-sweat, sex dreams about each other, the desire just becomes even harder to ignore in such confined spaces.

However, their desired need for love making was interrupted by white, red and blue flashing lights. Along with that blip of a siren too.

"Are you kidding me?!"

"Oh shit. Quick! Go back behind the wheel!"

"And how do you suppose I explain my pants being around my ankles Cal?"

Callie grunted, but just like that, it came to her. She yanked open her door, yanked his pants up so George could at least reach them, and then pushed him outside. Totally caught off guard, George ended up rolling out of the car and onto the chilled gravel.

"What the-"

"Just distract him while I clean up in here!" Callie shut the car door and George quickly got to his feet. He pulled himself together just in time for the "good evening officer."

"Sir, can I ask why you are pulled over in a no-standing zone?"

"Oh. This is a no-standing zone? Well, imagine that."

"Can I see your license and registration please."

"License and registration? Uh sure. But really sir, I mean officer. We were just heading out to meet up with some family for dinner and well, I had to do some sudden, unexpected private business, if you know what I mean. I mean Callie was like, 'George, either you pull this car over and go, or hold the stink bombs in and shove some toilet paper up your ass.' Yeah, she's hard core like that. So that's why I pulled over. Really! Callie, my wife, she's in the car, you can even ask her." George pointed towards the window, which was all steamy of course, so neither of them could see Callie shuffling around in her seat, trying to erase all their evidence.

But just as she was finished moving the seat back, George opened her door. A little surprised, Callie jumped by the sudden company. She could hear what George said to the cop, so she played along. "Sweetheart, what's going on? Good gawd, can't you do anything without getting in trouble?"

"Very funny. This concerned officer just wanted to know if everything was ok. Which it is, but I gave him my license already, so can you reach inside there and give me the registration for the car?" Callie nodded, smiled and did what she was asked.

"Who is Calliope Torres?"

"Oh, that's me. This is my car."

After a few awkward silent moments of looking back and forth suspiciously at George and Callie, the cop finally said, "if the two of you are married, then why do you have two different last names?"

George proceeded to explain their story. Although, a few minutes into it the cop was past suspicion. He was just plain baffled. The officer cut George off and said he did not need to know his whole life story, nor did he care. George's plan of over exaggerated lies worked. The cop wrote him a warning ticket to get Callie's registration changed and told them they better be gone by the time he drives back around. George did nothing but thank the guy. Even though he did nothing worthy that needed gratitude.

The O'Malley's agreed it would be best to just go ahead with the regular plans George made from now on.

* * *

He still was not even hinting to where they were going. The only thing Callie knew was that it would be about 10 more minutes till they reached their "destination." However, the closer they got the more puzzled she became. She figured they were headed for Gig Harbor; that much she gathered from what they were driving by. But he was driving into a neighborhood now… and then into a driveway. The house was a fairly good size; it was two stories and had a big front yard. Actually, that was all she could really tell from sitting in the car, it got pretty dark out. Wait a minute…

"Are we where I think we are George?"

He didn't say or do anything except keep that toothy grin of his plastered on his face. They got out of the car and George led Callie to the door. After hiking the steepest driveway Callie had to ever climb, George knocked on the dark red door. The words "Ma, do we know anyone with a black Mustang?" was heard from inside. It was then that Callie knew **exactly** where her husband dragged her to. She surprised him with a kiss showing her love and gratitude, but not three seconds later they were interrupted with "Georgie!"


	14. The O'Malley Dinner

"And, Callie?" Jerry was confused, it was not three days earlier when their mother went to SGH to give them a bag full of home made baby clothes, and she returned with the bag in hand, still full. And a very upsetting look to her face. It was later that night when Ronnie returned from work that their mother filled her sons in on the breakup of George and Callie. She told them everything, including what happened with Izzie. Needless to say, when his younger brother came home unexpectedly with his ex-wife, looking rather happy, well it was just one big surprise after the other. "What- why, I thought… but mom said that you two…"

Before anyone could answer all his stumbling questions, Callie stepped inside the warm house, kissed her brother in-law on the cheek and gave him a tight squeeze. "Hey Jerry! I missed you!" Yeah, Jerry did not mind one bit hugging her. Anytime, any place, in front of anyone. You just don't pass up an opportunity when a hot Latina throws herself at you, even if she is your brother's wife. He hugged her back of course, but was still puzzled. Jerry looked over at his brother who apparently was not surprised by her show of affection to him. George mumbled something to himself and walked inside as well.

"I could have sworn I heard another female's voice in my house. Jerry who is-" Mrs. O'Malley turned the corner from the kitchen and gasped once she saw them.

"Hi mom. Is it ok that we came? I prolly should have called before hand, but I knew if I did you would have a lot of questions as to why Callie's here with me."

"You didn't tell them we were coming? George!" Callie smacked his arm, it didn't really hurt though because he had on his jacket. "I'm sorry, we should go. I did not know we were coming here myself, otherwise I would have made sure that you knew we were stopping by. I can tell by that amazing smell that you already have dinner going, so George, lets just come back tomorrow. It was really nice seeing you again Jerry, but we'll-"

"NO! No, don't go. Are you kidding, I have been cooking for four men for 26 years; it's a habit now to make so much food. So please Callie, come, stay." Louise wiped her wet hands on her apron that was around her waist and motioned for them all to go in the kitchen. Callie smiled and followed her mother in-law. Jerry tried to go behind Callie but George pushed him out of the way so he could go next in line. If he knew his brother at all, the only reason he wanted to follow her was so he could check out her ass the whole way there, and that George could not watch.

Jerry finished setting the table as George opened a bottle of merlot and Louise started serving spaghetti and meatballs with her signature special secret sauce. It didn't take long for the much wondering topic to surface. And Jerry being Jerry had no problem at all asking the question. "So mom said that you guys got a divorce like three days ago. What gives?" Louise almost spit out her wine. She gave him her motherly 'how dare you embarrass me like that, why would you say such a rude comment' glare. Jerry just shrugged his shoulders. Callie quickly chewed her food so she could answer him, but George cleared his throat and started first.

"First of all, we never actually got a divorce."

"But sweetheart, that's not what you told me the other day."

"Actually ma, I told you that we were broken up. And that we plan on getting a divorce. So when Callie came to the house to talk to me about starting up some papers the next day, well, it's a long story…" Thinking back to tripping on his sleeping bag and acting like a fool afterwards at the hospital, George started to blush. Callie knew exactly what was going through his head, so she continued on for him.

"It's actually not that long baby. Here's what happened. Jerry, you'll love this!"

"Cal, please. Don't." George was shaking his head and was already embarrassed by his stupid fall.

"Let the woman speak bro!"

"Thank you Jerry. As I was saying, we decided on getting the divorce papers drawn up, so I started to leave. And this one over here," Callie wrapped her left arm around George's shoulders and leaned into his body as she spoke, "decides to trip on his sleeping bag. He totally popped his shoulder out, again."

"OH my! Are you alright honey?"

"I'm fine ma."

"Yeah, he will live. I took him back to the hospital and popped it back in."

"I wish Ronnie was here for this! I hope you were hard on him Callie, I'm sure he deserved it."

"Oh, I was. Totally on purpose too."

"You were?! What the hell!"

"Hey, do not swear at the dinner table." Yeah, George's mom still told him what to do.

Anyway, they took turns throughout the rest of dinner telling Jerry and Louise why they decided to get back together. George explained how much he realized Callie meant to him, as a wife, as a friend, as a coworker. Callie explained how even though she loathes Izzie, she forgave George. It takes two to end a marriage, but two to begin one again. Jerry was more than excited, seeing as he sorta got depressed over the fact that Callie was no longer going to be a part of the family as of days ago. As for Louise, she kept quiet most of the conversation. She did not want to interrupt, nor did she really understand the situation. She saw how hurt Callie was over the whole Izzie debacle first hand. Geesh the girl cried in front of her, saying how she still believes in love and second chances despite everything that happened. You gotta admit for a woman's husband to have an affair and lie about it the way George did, Callie still held strong for love. And for that matter, strong for George too. If she could, Louise would take the whole thing back for the sake of her son's reputation, and for her daughter in-laws hurtful eyes afterwards. Never did Herald cheat on her though out their 32 years of marriage, and never did she expect any of her sons to do the same. She thought she raised them better than that, they were taught to respect women, not to ever lie or hurt on purpose. And all George had to say to her was that he did not expect, or want, any of this to happen to Callie. Or Izzie. It just sorta did. But even so, even if it was not on purpose and he did not plan to fall in love with another woman while he was already married, that is her son. They are Christian. They just, he should not have, it is all wrong.

After dinner Louise sent the boys to the upstairs bathroom to fix the leaking sink, and made Callie help her clean in the kitchen. There was definitely some much needed women talk for them to discuss. Well, more like, much needed marriage talk. Or 'what the hell is going on' talk. After a few minutes of nothing but polite smiles from Louise, Callie quickly got the vibe that she was not happy.

"The baby clothes were really cute by the way. I'm so sorry we can't use them right now, but if you could keep them, you know for later… when we will need them. That would be great."

"I'm glad you liked them. Knitting has always been my favorite thing to relax me, take my mind off of everything. And ever since Herald… well, I've had a lot of free time." Callie looked over at her mother in-law who was now slumped over the sink, rinsing dishes and putting them into the dishwasher. Even if you did not know her, you could tell she was grieving for someone. She had that lost stare to her face and that fake smile along with that hopeful, yet sad tone to her voice when she spoke. It was pretty sad actually, so Callie tried as best as she could to lighten the mood.

"Well, George and I haven't talked about this yet, but if we ever have a son I was hoping we could name him Herald. Would that be ok? I mean we decided before, when we were tying to have a baby, that if it was a girl George would get to pick the name. If it was a boy, I got to choose, and I already knew I wanted Herald, I was just going to surprise George with it once the baby came. Honestly if it wasn't for your husband I'm not quite sure George would have told me he loved me. Herald helped me too a lot, I'm not sure if you knew this already but when he was in the hospital, whenever George wasn't there, he and I would talk. About any lil ol' thing. Not only about George or you either, just about life. In general. We just sort of clicked; I don't know it's hard to explain. I don't have such a close relationship with my parents like George does with you, so in a way you guys were like my parents out here. They live in Florida, don't get me wrong I love them and I know they love me, but my dad owns his own business and my mom was the party hostess for everything. I was just their little trophy daughter who attended boarding school every year since the first grade. Like I said, different relationships. So, if it's alright with you…"

Louise almost broke the plate she dropped it so hard in the sink. But she didn't care, with wet hands and all, the woman hugged Callie as if she was pregnant already. Callie of course hugged her back and in that moment, knew everything would be alright. Her own mother never hugged her this tight for this long, but she wasn't complaining.

Still embracing her daughter in-law, Louise tried to talk through tears. "Callie I was so worried when I found out you two broke up. I know he loves you, more than anything I know that. Even when Herald was sick, George would look at you and watch you and even though he was angry with you he still looked at you the way Herald looked at me for all those years. I don't know exactly all the details about Izzie, but I'm just glad he got passed that. Don't tell anyone but you are by far, my favorite girl any of the boys brought home and I am so blessed and honored to call you my daughter. I'm sorry if I did not seem so happy when you walked through that door tonight, I just didn't know what to expect."

Callie quickly pulled away from her to make sure Louise saw how much her words meant to her. Callie was now full out crying herself. She mustered up a smile, a happy smile and simply said back, "Expect nothing but love and gratitude."


	15. The Betta Man

After the kitchen was all clean, Mrs. O'Malley started to knit. Yes, baby clothes. Callie gave her a little too much hope for a grandson sooner rather than later. So Callie went upstairs to see what George and Jerry were up to. On the way she noticed a rectangular metal sign on one of the doors that read "Georgie's Parking Only." After staring at it for a few seconds, she figured what the hell. She's married to him; she got rights to his childhood bedroom.

She opened the door and stepped inside. Just as she expected, a clean, neat, boy smelling room. The walls were a cream color, hardwood floors, and a double bed was tucked in the corner with a plaid red/green/blue comforter on top. Under the window was a dresser that had nothing but a clock radio and a candle stick light on top. Then there was the closet, which had some clothes in it but it seemed over the past year that he was gone, it was turned into a storage closet. There was yarn, a bunch load of yarn, on the shelves. OH snap! Yearbooks!

_Georgie u saved my butt in history his year! If it wasn't 4 u, idk what I would of done! Have a great summer and K.I.T.! hearts, Roothy_

_G u rock man! See ya around. PS. Ur volcano in chem kicked ass! Bobby _

Callie was getting a kick out of these yearbook signing stuff. She was in her own little world reading what other students wrote him. Her next thing to find was George's school picture…

--

As he walked down the hall, he noticed his bedroom door was open; of course she would go in there. He sneaked a peek inside and saw her sitting on the bed, smiling, looking at some book not even paying attention to him. The thought about this woman in his childhood bedroom going through his things, snooping around in wonder and excitement was just simply arousing. Normally he would be peeved if someone went through his stuff behind his back, but with her… he didn't care. Callie does what she wants, when she wants, with whom she wants. And she looked so hot just sitting there on his old bed by herself… but that, he decided, was not right. As quietly as he could George slipped inside his old bedroom, eased the door shut and locked it. He plopped behind her on the bed. She didn't even flinch. Still oblivious to the fact that she was looking at his sophomore year group picture of the math team, George pushed her hair off her left shoulder and started nibbling at the nap of her neck. It was not hard enough to hurt her, but it definitely was making her body heat up. And the way his hands were stroking her thighs making her skin tingle… uh, that didn't help either.

In almost a whisper, George asked in between nibbles, "Something interesting in there?"

"You could say that."

"Well what about this?" As he talked George's hands crept under her shirt, he unhooked her gray, cotton bra from the front and cupped her now free breasts, moving them in a circle-like motion. Callie let out a little gasp not expecting him to do such a thing.

"Does this peak your interests?" As she sighed, a simple "uh hu" was all she could say before he kissed her on the mouth. He still tasted like his mom's sweat special spaghetti sauce. She dropped the book, grabbed his tossed hair and kept pushing him closer to her. It was a little awkward for her because since he was behind her, she had to twist to meet his lips. But he leaned forward as much as he could to make it easier.

George pulled his hands back from under her shirt, gently pushed her bra straps over her shoulders and down her arms and she let go of him to take it off. The second she could her hands were, once again, pulling him closer. There was not one centimeters space between them. Callie just wanted to be close to him. Plain and simple. George shimmed around her, shoving his pants down along the way, and pushed the yearbook off the bed almost breaking the binding. Callie mimicked him and shoved her jeans down too. He wanted her to lie down, but when he leaned forward to try to make her, she resisted. She did not want only him to be able to hold her, she wanted to hold him as well. If she laid down, then he would go on top of her and no doubt embrace her body- feeling her, touching her, caressing her- like he does every time. But right now, she wanted to be able to do all those things to him too. So, she stayed sitting.

Callie moved her legs around his body and he did the same to hers. After their legs were situated she scooted her butt closer, dur, and once again started exploring his mouth. It was like she was trying to memorize every inch of it, from the roof to underneath his tongue. She started unbuttoning his shirt, more like ripping them off, and he slid her baby doll tee over her head. But when they heard Ronnie calling from downstairs, they froze. Their tongues extracted, Callie pulled away and the look of 'oh shit' was all over her face. Suddenly, she was reminded of where exactly they were…

"What's wrong?"

"George, we are in your mother's house."

"Ohhhh! Really? So that's where we are…"

"I can't have sex with you in your mom's house."

"Why not? It's kinda dirty sexy hot."

"Yeah but your brothers are home and, and, they'll hear us. Or hear you. Either way, it's just wrong."

"Cal… what if I said that I'll be quiet. Huh?" She slouched down and crossed her arms across her chest. She was still considering, but he would need more than that to convince her. "Come on, please. Would I lie to you?"

Well, she hoped he would never again. But his track record wasn't exactly clean on that one… stupid Izzie. Had to go and almost ruin her marriage, destroy her self-image, humiliate her in front of the whole hospital. Wait, why was she thinking about Izzie NOW. Damn it!! Get out get out get out! Even in the throws that blond bimbo popped in her head. Was she ever going to be able to get past this? Even with George in bed next to her, knowing that he picked her, she still thought about the past lies and hurt. Callie trusts George again, she really does, but why can't she seem to get Izzie off the brain…

And then out of even more surprise, Mark popped in her head. Well it wasn't exactly a full surprise because whenever Mark noticed Callie had that look- the look of complete sadness from thinking back on her husband having an affair- Mark turned her around instantly. He would come up with some lame excuse to why he needed the one and only Doctor Callie Torres to help with this patient, otherwise it could be critical. Most of the time it was just a broken ankle or smashed knee that had to be replaced, nothing critical about it. But Mark still made her feel wanted. Which was something she was not feeling a whole lot those days. Mark also would invite her to go to a bar, not Joe's, and they would stay there for hours talking and laughing and playing pool and dancing, those nights were fun. Callie felt like herself whenever her and Mark had a "get out of jail free" night. That's what they would call it; Mark came up with the name. Yeah, that man knew how to turn Callie back into Callie more so than George could do. Then again, George was part of the problem at the time.

George kissed her nose to bring her mind back to him, sitting there with a hard on. He smiled that cheesy smile that was just for her and started stroking her hair. As if he was reading her mind, he looked into those dark brown eyes and reassured her everything.

"I never met anyone quite like you. And not just your strength and your grace, but the way you know me. Ya know. Wow! Uhhh…. you know what? Without you asking, without ultimatums, something fundamentally has changed in me. Because of the way, you love me, because of the way I am. Right? You make me want to be a better man. And I promise you that I'm going to do everything I can, to be that man."

_I make him want to become a better man? Is he seriously saying this, to me? Right now? Like, why, what is going on… I mean damn, I'm calm. He definitely knows how to make me calm, but what has this got to do with anything… oh my God. That smile. UGH. He knows that makes me melt… _With his hands he pushed her head onto his lips and gave her a brief kiss to interrupt the speech for just one second. He was not expecting to do this now, but he wanted to more than ever. He had an idea of what he wanted to say, how he wanted to ask it, but he still had to organize his thoughts for just one moment. The kiss was a perfect way to do it.

She looked at him a little confused, but still kept silent to let him continue on. "The point I'm making is this…… okay, I love you, right." George let out a long breath, looked down and knotted his hands in hers. She still was just watching him, listening to him, not saying anything, waiting for whatever unexpected thing was going to come out of his mouth next. "Callie, I want to marry you. I want you to be my wife."

"Stop me if I'm wrong, but aren't we already married?"

"Yeah but I want to do it right this time! I want us to have a church and a priest and our families there, I want to make this right. I want everyone to see first hand how much you mean to me, how much I'm in love with you. That might seem a little showy, but I don't really care because. God Callie… I know I screwed up, but I am not going to do it again."

Behind her misty eyes she looked into his, he was terrified by her lack of contribution. If she would just say anything, do anything, squeeze his hand, something… instead she closed her eyes and leaned into his chest. He felt her tears against his bare skin and hugged her so tight. And then- he felt it. A slight bobble of the head.

"Is that a yes?"

She leaned back up and answered through her tears. "That is a yes I'll marry you."

"Well okay then!" He kissed her, hugged her again and buried his head in her shoulder. She did the same to his, but couldn't help and see Mark's disappointed face when she would have to tell him the news.


End file.
